


Cloudbusting

by bratanimus



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Rain, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 04:17:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13756137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bratanimus/pseuds/bratanimus
Summary: “Have you heard of cloudbusting?” he asked. They could never talk about what they were talking about, but it all meant the same thing, every time.





	Cloudbusting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mrstater](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrstater/gifts).



> For mrstater's prompt, "in the rain." Happy Valentine's Day! <3

 

Droplets of rain spattered the viewports of Kylo Ren’s shuttle. They plopped onto the transparisteel, each splash a chaotic explosion of liquid that spread into nothingness…until the edges met and merged. As the gentle shower swelled to a deluge, the raindrops combined, at first forming rivulets, then ever-widening streaks that became a sheet of water so complete it seemed to transform the wild, green landscape outside into something different.

The First Order should’ve been accustomed to its Supreme Leader’s caprice by now, but Kylo felt surprise spike in the cockpit when he barked the order to abort the flight sequence. A low-ranking officer, young and uninitiated, protested that General Hux would be cross if they didn’t return by the specified hour.

“There’s something I have to do,” Kylo murmured absently, for there was no time to waste. With the sound of the engines’ growl lowering to a drone, he strode into the corridor. A wave of his hand lowered the gangway, and he dropped his cloak before stepping out into the rain.

Rain. The girl from Jakku never tired of it.

 _Please_ , Kylo thought into the Force, to her.

Closing his eyes, he raised his face to the downpour and raked fingers through his hair until the rain dripped down his neck inside his collar, tickling his chest as it trickled toward his waist. Even out here, alone in the driving rain, he felt the officers’ sneering judgment of his fitness for leadership, their tallies of mistakes he’d made, their fear and ridicule of his strange, distant behavior, all of which crested again and again until he lashed out at one of them, quelling the tide of dissent until the next time. Perhaps he was insane, they wondered. He had the vague thought (wish?) that they’d leave him here. It didn’t matter, she was near, he could feel it. He stood in the pouring rain until he shivered with cold.

 _Please come_.

Finally, she did.

He snapped his gaze to where Rey stood, hair and clothes dampening rapidly, even though wherever she and the Resistance had holed up was arid as old bones.

From her, a prickle of annoyance, but mostly gratitude. She’d never said so, but she was thankful for each rainy moment he shared across the galaxy with her.

Heedless of the weight of his drenched tunic and the water dripping from his hair and chin and tip of his nose, the rain coursing down his cheeks like tears, he stared as she cupped her hands to collect more water to splash onto her face, her breath coming in hitches as though she might laugh any second now. Her sodden clothes clung to her muscular shoulders, the small mounds of her breasts. Rain dripped from her lips. He wanted to taste it.

“Have you heard of cloudbusting?” he asked.

They could never talk about what they were talking about, but it all meant the same thing, every time.

Eyes narrowed, she replied carefully. “No.”

He’d keep trying until she was tempted.

Crossing the spongy earth toward her, he halted only when he felt her defenses rise. A mere arm’s length away today. “To pass the time—or maybe just to prove something—we used to try to make it rain.”

Rey’s expression softened. She knew he meant his fellow students from a lifetime ago. His throat tightened, but he swallowed, pressed lips together against the shame, and went on. Even to his ears his voice sounded calm. “Some of us got pretty good at it.”

Beyond her shoulder the grey sky hung heavy with moisture. He made it rain harder and wasn’t above the flourish of a thunderclap.

“But you were the best,” she clarified unnecessarily.

Meeting her eyes again, Kylo nodded.

“Did you do that?” A tilt of her chin toward the heavens.

Another nod. “Well, it started raining on its own, but that last bit…” He shrugged, unused to being humble.

Rey was far from impressed. He chuckled. But something in the determined set of her eyes told him to wait.

At last, she told him what she wanted. It was only a whisper, but he felt it.

“Will you teach me?”

Something caught in his chest, a relief greater than the touch of fingers across parsecs, exultation more glorious than battling by her side.

“ _Anything_.”

She regarded him for a long time, while he held his breath.

“All right, then.”

She raised her gaze to the sky, and when the clouds separated he exhaled. A beam of sunlight touched them both, and Rey’s skin shimmered. Each droplet of water on her cheeks contained a whole sun. Vapor rose from her shoulders as though she were a new sword, just quenched. All around them the ground muddied, behind him the hulking starship glistened like a wet insect, and the rainstorm intensified…except for within the single, circular patch of sunlight that warmed the two of them.

“Did you do that?” he asked, knowing she had, of course.

Her smile was the last thing he saw before the bond snatched her away. He had the fleeting thought that the sun of Jakku shone because of her.

 _Teach me_ , he thought, too late.

Well. There was always next time.

 


End file.
